Le trafic d’armes à feu au sein de l’Union européenne est une menace préoccupante contre l’espace de liberté, de sécurité et de justice poussant l’Union et ses États membres à réagir afin de renforcer leur cadre juridique. Néanmoins, il est difficile d’apporter aux problématiques posées par le trafic d’armes à feu une solution légale du fait de ses caractéristiques et sa transversalité. Les stocks d’armes à feu se trouvant aux frontières de l’Union européenne sont détournés afin d’être introduit dans l’espace sans frontières par de multiples acteurs aux intérêts et motivations diverses. Ces traits de caractères rendent difficile la mise en place d’un cadre juridique harmonisé dans des domaines restant sous le joug de la souveraineté nationale. Ces difficultés ont entrainé le développement d’un cadre juridique imparfait et limité créant des failles juridiques dont les trafiquants profitent. Néanmoins, les solutions existent et sont pour certaines déjà présentes dans le cadre normatif de l’Union européenne. Cependant, l’évolution du trafic d’armes à feu et de ses acteurs conduit également à envisager le développement de nouveaux mécanismes et de nouveaux pans du droit / Firearms trafficking within the European Union is a worrying threat to the area of freedom, security and justice, prompting the Union and its Member States to react in order to strengthen their legal framework. Nevertheless, the issue of firearms is complex to legislate because of its characteristics and its cross-cutting nature. Firearm stocks at the borders of the European Union are diverted in order to be introduced into the border-free area by multiple actors with diverse interests and motivations. These characteristics make it difficult to establish a harmonised legal framework in areas that remain under the yoke of national sovereignty. These difficulties have led to the development of an imperfect and limited legal framework creating legal loopholes from which traffickers benefit. Nevertheless, solutions exist and some of them are already present in the European Union's normative framework. However, the evolution of firearms trafficking and its actors also leads us to consider the development of new mechanisms and new areas of the law

yes / It is now widely recognised that, to be successful, efforts towards preventing and combating the illicit trade in SALW will require a multifaceted approach which simultaneously tackles the demand for and the supply of these weapons. In this regard, developing and promoting international norms, standards and mechanisms for the effective removal of illicit weapons from circulation is a major challenge for the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. There are two distinct scenarios within which weapons collection initiatives operate: the peace-time scenario, where efforts are focused on reducing criminal violence; and the postconflict scenario, where efforts are focused on the objective of conflict prevention through peace-building.

yes / Arms embargoes are one of the principal tools of states in seeking to prevent, limit and bring an end to armed conflict and human rights abuses. Despite the frequency with which arms embargoes have been imposed, there are significant problems with their implementation. Pressure is therefore growing for the international governmental community to act in order to ensure that the political commitment embodied by the imposition of arms embargoes is matched by the commitment to ensure their rigorous enforcement and to achieve enhanced human security on the ground. Increasing the effectiveness of arms embargoes is a specific aim of the United Nations Programme of Action for Preventing and Combating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects1 which specifically calls upon states "To take appropriate measures, including all legal or administrative means, against any activity that violates a United Nations Security Council arms embargo in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations".2 Accordingly, within the context of the implementation of the UN PoA, the overall aim of this paper is to explore ways in which the international community can act in order to strengthen the impact of arms embargoes and enhance human security. It will begin by examining the purposes, processes and effects relating to arms embargoes, with particular attention to those agreed at international (UN) level, and by highlighting issues of concern in each regard. An overview of the main issues and challenges facing implementation of arms embargoes will include the elaboration of three case-study examples showing the impact of UN arms embargoes on the availability of arms and on human security and a further five that illustrate the dilemmas faced by states in seeking to implement arms embargoes. Priority areas for attention in any international effort to strengthen the effectiveness of arms embargoes will be followed by more extensive proposals for enhancing international embargo regimes within the context of implementing the UN PoA. Whilst it is recognised that the UN PoA contains measures that relate only to the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons (SALW), if implemented fully, many of these would serve to strengthen the international apparatus of control, information exchange and provision of assistance relating to arms proliferation and misuse as a whole. In turn, this would greatly enhance the implementation of UN arms embargoes. Therefore, as well as providing an opportunity for reviewing progress on implementing the PoA, the first Biennial Meeting of States in July 2003 is clearly a major opportunity for states to address a number of the pressing challenges facing states in the implementation of UN embargoes.

The archaeology of the region, referred to in scholarly lexicon as the Ancient Near East, is richly endowed with artefacts and monumental architecture of ancient cultures. Such artefacts, as a non-renewable resource are, therefore considered to be a scarce commodity. So also is the context and the provenance of these objects. Once an object’s provenance has been disturbed, it is of no further significant use for academic research, except for aesthetic value. Historically, as well as in the present, we see that humans have exploited this resource for various reasons, with very little regard given to provenance. The impact of forgery, illicit trade and looting are the greatest threat to the value of provenance. Contrary to some arguments, collectors, curators, buyers, looters and certain scholars play a significant role in its destruction. This research reveals to what extent unknown provenance has become a disturbing problem in the study of archaeological artefacts. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.Th. (Biblical Archaeology)